The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Surgical procedures are often performed on various patients in various operating theaters at different times. Many instruments are used during a single procedure. The instruments used during a specific procedure, however, are generally specific to that procedure. Further, many instruments are reused for similar or identical procedures (e.g. spinal implant placement) on different patients at different times. It may be desirable to provide information relating to a specific instrument or attachment (e.g. tip) to an instrument among the multiple instruments brought into or provided in a single operating theater, or a single procedure, or among multiple procedures with a single instrument.
A manual system may require a user or an assistant to enter or record information about an instrument, such as a surgical instrument. The entered information relates general use and inventory tracking about a particular instrument. The information can be transferred to a computer to determine the location of a selected instrument in an inventory, a manufacturer of an instrument, or the like. The information relating to the instrument, however, is generally limited to information relating only to inventory tracking information or limited identity information.